Friday, 11 December 2009
EurAsEC Interstate Council 25th meeting held in St Petersburg
The Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan-led government delegation has arrived in St Petersburg on a working visit to attend the EurAsEC Interstate Council’s 25th sitting involving the heads of member-State governments. The delegation consists of Chief of Government Staff David Sargsyan, Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan, Deputy Finance Minister Vardan Aramyan, Deputy Economy Minister Mushegh Tumasyan, Deputy Transport and Communication Minister Artashes Avetisyan and other high ranking officials.
There were about two tens of items on the agenda of the forum which involved Armenia in the capacity of observer.
Earlier today the Armenian delegation called at the presidential library after B. Yeltsin. Then they joined the Interstate Council which first met in a narrow format as followed by an extended panel.
Pivotal in the debate was the need of ensuring smooth pace of anti-crisis efforts and taking joint action toward the chief targets pursued by the organization. Welcoming the guests, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that cooperation in the framework of EurAsEc has been successful in terms of minimizing the adverse impact of the global crisis and shaping common customs and economic areas.
The Council further discussed emergence of common customs and economic areas in the framework of EurAsEc, approval of “Innovative High Technologies” interstate program, fundamental principles of member-State-pursued monetary policies, cooperation arrangements in the field of education and copyright, as well as draft food security concepts. Then, the floor was taken by the heads of government in attendance.
Next, the premiers took up the inventory of those products and technologies subject to special export controls in respective countries of origin. As a result, the list was revised and amended. The prime ministers similarly discussed a number of other issues, including re-cultivation of those sites in member-States which used to be uranium exploitations.
The meeting was concluded with a discussion of organizational matters, after which the heads of governments met with mass media representatives.
Later today, the delegation of the Armenian government returned to Yerevan.
During an interview given to Armenian journalists, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan highlighted two agenda items: the activities of the anti-crisis fund and the establishment of an innovational foundation about which specific arrangements have already been made. “We have mobilized 8 projects with an innovational bias. Also, we have some expectations regarding the proceeds of the anti-crisis fund. They include abound USD 500mn worth of lending programs covering energy, chemical industry and such other fields as may provide specific trends of cooperation and integration,” the Prime Minister stated in part.
As to why Armenia has so far failed to accede to EurAsEC, Tigran Sargsyan said the reason is that we have no common borders with member countries: “The status of observer allows us to expand a multifaceted cooperation with EurAsEC-member States. As I stated above, there are some 20 arrangements concerning all of the focus areas. We are interested in joining these agreements and developing close relationship with member countries as this stems from our economic and political interests. Our current status enables us to keep track of developments within the organization and identify those areas of interest to Armenia. The more we are informed about the ongoing processes, the better we can avail ourselves from the opportunities available,” said the Prime Minister.
